ATLAS My Virtualized unRAID server

[mushi_mushi]

Have you added the card to the VM.

 

You assign the card as available for pass-through first, then in the guest settings you need to add a PCI device and add the the card as a device available to the guest

 

Yes. I did both. The controller is picked up by the vm it just doesnt see any drives. I looked through the start up logs and I didnt see any error messages. I'm using a rack mount and decided to try to use a different cable to connect my controller card directly to a drive and it picks up the drive. Now I have to figure out why my case isnt picking it up, if all the slots work etc. Thanks for the help, I'll post a build log/review when the project is complete.

[siamsquare]

Question...how does one setup ESXi 5.1 for NIC teaming?

Just bought a new switch which is capable of NIC teaming!

 

Thanks!

[dikkiedirk]

I see some of you use the sas2l-mv8 with succes. I recently assemled a system with X8SIL-F, X3450, 8 GB RAM and a sas2lp-mv8 (int13 disabled).

 

I installed ESXi 5.0U2 before installing the sas2lp-mv8, after installing the sas2lp-mv8 it didnt show up in ESXi under storage adapter. I also can't add it as a PCI or SCSI adapter in a VM. I upgraded to 5.1U1 but it still doesn't show up.

It also doesn't show up under configuration-advances settings.

 

What can I try to get this working?

[c3]

Question...how does one setup ESXi 5.1 for NIC teaming?

Just bought a new switch which is capable of NIC teaming!

 

Thanks!

hlmgtfy http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1004088

[siamsquare]

Thanks for the info!

[jdc]

This is a fantastic thread.  Thanks for taking the time to write out the detailed step-by-step instructions.  I got help from others on here too, so many thanks to them as well.

[tinkererguy]

I've been reading in this thread and others about the best way to implement automated UPS shutdown for VM's and ESXi.  I stumbled across this guys page and he says he found the perfect solution using CyberPower's PowerPanel Business Editions management software.  It is a standalone appliance software built on CentOS and requires no scripting or software to be installed on other VM's except for VMtools.  I watched his video and it seems to work just fine.  What do you guys think about it.  Is there a caveat I'm missing or does this indeed seem to be a great solution?

 

Link to the CyberPower software: http://www.cyberpowersystems.com/products/management-software/ppbe.html

 

Link to the guys Youtube video:

 

Link the guy's web page article:  http://tinkertry.com/configure-automated-shutdown-homelab-datacenter-15-minutes/

This looks interesting.  I was wanting to upgrade my UPS to a pure sine wave device anyway.  Only downfall is taking up precious server resources with that VM (2 GB RAM, 80 GB HD).  Definitely interested to see how this works for someone.

 

Thank you, for the mention of my blog post about this, made back on Nov 2012 .  So glad the backlink helped me find this this interesting forum.

I've been running the same version of the appliance ever since that post.  I just checked on it after a week of uptime, and it's using only 449MB of memory (or less), see images below.

So it would seem that CyberPower went way overboard by choosing 2GB of RAM, when they created the appliance.  VMware handles the overprovisioning of memory pretty well anyway.

[Jmmc1397]

tinkererguy, thanks for the awesome tutorials. Your tutorials have taken a lot of pain out of building a home vSphere lab.

[ezbox]

Thanks a lot for this great and very educational thread.

 

I currently have an unraid pro license with 9 drives + parity+cache running off the 6 sata ports on the MB and a supermicro 8 port card and works well.  However, the hobby itch came about and decided to move this service to a new machine under esxi since I also had another machine running ubuntu.  I ordered another supermicro card, norco case, seasonic psu, supermicro mb, xeon CPU, a 7200 rpm 2tb drive for datastore and 16gb of ram. According to newegg/amazon I should get everything tomorrow.

 

A few q's if possible.

 

1. Can I move the running unraid server to a VM using passthru on the two SUPERMICRO AOC-SASLP-MV8's? 

2. Will the VM with the unraid system have problems when I move the drives that are currently on the internal sata connectors to the supermicro cards or should be able to access/id all the drives?

3. For cache drives you guys usually setup direct access? RDM I believe is called.

4. Has anyone moved a running ubuntu HD to a VM? can I do it using RDM ? (if that is the term)  If so, add a new VM and select the drive? or other process?

 

Plan is to have unraid, ubuntu and a windows host running in the esxi, will see how it goes.

 

Thanks for any help,

 

EzBox

[mrow]

Thanks a lot for this great and very educational thread.

 

I currently have an unraid pro license with 9 drives + parity+cache running off the 6 sata ports on the MB and a supermicro 8 port card and works well.  However, the hobby itch came about and decided to move this service to a new machine under esxi since I also had another machine running ubuntu.  I ordered another supermicro card, norco case, seasonic psu, supermicro mb, xeon CPU, a 7200 rpm 2tb drive for datastore and 16gb of ram. According to newegg/amazon I should get everything tomorrow.

 

A few q's if possible.

 

1. Can I move the running unraid server to a VM using passthru on the two SUPERMICRO AOC-SASLP-MV8's? 

2. Will the VM with the unraid system have problems when I move the drives that are currently on the internal sata connectors to the supermicro cards or should be able to access/id all the drives?

3. For cache drives you guys usually setup direct access? RDM I believe is called.

4. Has anyone moved a running ubuntu HD to a VM? can I do it using RDM ? (if that is the term)  If so, add a new VM and select the drive? or other process?

 

Plan is to have unraid, ubuntu and a windows host running in the esxi, will see how it goes.

 

Thanks for any help,

 

EzBox

 

 

1. Yes, follow the instructions on the first page of this thread.

2. You can attach the drives currently on the onboard controller to the cards with no problem as long as you're running version 5. If you're running 4.7 you'll need to make sure to remember which order your drives are in.

3. You can RDM the cache drive if you want but I prefer not to use RDM at all and to use a cache drive on the controller card. You said you will have two cards passed through so you'll have a total of 16 drives that can be hooked up to them so you have plenty to spare.

4. I'd use the VMWare converter to migrate your existing Ubuntu install to a virtual disk. http://radu.cotescu.com/how-to-convert-your-physical-machine-into-a-virtual-machine-using-vmware-converter/

[graywolf]

I've been reading in this thread and others about the best way to implement automated UPS shutdown for VM's and ESXi.  I stumbled across this guys page and he says he found the perfect solution using CyberPower's PowerPanel Business Editions management software.  It is a standalone appliance software built on CentOS and requires no scripting or software to be installed on other VM's except for VMtools.  I watched his video and it seems to work just fine.  What do you guys think about it.  Is there a caveat I'm missing or does this indeed seem to be a great solution?

 

Link to the CyberPower software: http://www.cyberpowersystems.com/products/management-software/ppbe.html

 

Link to the guys Youtube video:

 

Link the guy's web page article:  http://tinkertry.com/configure-automated-shutdown-homelab-datacenter-15-minutes/

This looks interesting.  I was wanting to upgrade my UPS to a pure sine wave device anyway.  Only downfall is taking up precious server resources with that VM (2 GB RAM, 80 GB HD).  Definitely interested to see how this works for someone.

 

Thank you, for the mention of my blog post about this, made back on Nov 2012 .  So glad the backlink helped me find this this interesting forum.

I've been running the same version of the appliance ever since that post.  I just checked on it after a week of uptime, and it's using only 449MB of memory (or less), see images below.

So it would seem that CyberPower went way overboard by choosing 2GB of RAM, when they created the appliance.  VMware handles the overprovisioning of memory pretty well anyway.

 

Excellent articles.

 

Needed another UPS for just my server (based on your article and found a good deal got a CyberPower) and using the old one (APC) for the rest of my equipment in the room.

 

Had a power outage middle of the night recently. Wife woke me up, I'm still sleepy as hell, not quite awake.

Started shutting down the laptops instead of unRaid (Esxi box) first.

Had to restart a laptop to get the unRaid web gui to shut it down (didn't have auto shutdown set up before).

 

Got the unRaid VM shutdown just before the UPS drained.  Too close a call.

 

Just finished setting up and testing your process. Works like a charm. Now to figure out how to have the Esxi box power up when the UPS goes back to AC (maybe after 10 mins so as to ovoid possible yoyo effects) from Battery mode.

 

Any suggestions?

 

 

[garycase]

Any suggestions?

 

I don't think you can set a timer for the automatic power-on; but you can set the BIOS power options to "Always On" ... and then when power is restored to the system it will reboot.

 

Most UPS units have a short (2-5 seconds) delay after power is restored before they turn on their outputs.    (Basically they're "rebooting" internally)    This should generally eliminate the "yo-yo" effect you're worried about. 

[garycase]

... an alternative to having it power back up on A/C restore is to set it for WOL, and just send a magic packet to turn it on after power is restored.    This wouldn't, of course, be automatic (although if you have another PC that auto-boots on power-on, it could have a scheduled task to send the WOL packet after a delay time of your choosing.

[ccruzen]

I'm looking for some advice and figured this was the best place to ask.  I've got a setup pretty much just like ATLAS. 

MB: Supermicro MBD-X9SCM-F-O

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1240

SATA Controller Cards: IBM M1015 and Intel RES2SV240

 

I'm currently running ESXi 5.0 and am wanting to upgrade to 5.1, just wanting to make sure that with my hardware I won't have any problems.  I've read the thread but am still a little confused. 

Thanks,

 

[c3]

I'm looking for some advice and figured this was the best place to ask.  I've got a setup pretty much just like ATLAS. 

MB: Supermicro MBD-X9SCM-F-O

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1240

SATA Controller Cards: IBM M1015 and Intel RES2SV240

 

I'm currently running ESXi 5.0 and am wanting to upgrade to 5.1, just wanting to make sure that with my hardware I won't have any problems.  I've read the thread but am still a little confused. 

Thanks,

Going to 5.1 is fine.

[ccruzen]

I'm looking for some advice and figured this was the best place to ask.  I've got a setup pretty much just like ATLAS. 

MB: Supermicro MBD-X9SCM-F-O

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1240

SATA Controller Cards: IBM M1015 and Intel RES2SV240

 

I'm currently running ESXi 5.0 and am wanting to upgrade to 5.1, just wanting to make sure that with my hardware I won't have any problems.  I've read the thread but am still a little confused. 

Thanks,

Going to 5.1 is fine.

Thanks a lot.  Now I can put to use my Windows 8 and Server 2012 keys!

[mazma]

I'm thinking of upgrading my unRaid rig to an Exsi setup. Looking at the original spec'd hardware some of it is discontinued. Has anyone got a more current hardware list. Mainly interested in the mother board, processor and datastore drives.

[c3]

There are at least two motherboard popular for the ESXi white box storage crowd, the supermicro and tyan. The x9scm and e3 are still the motherboard and processor most often used. The current version available in your market for a reasonable price is a good starting point.

 

For drives, the field is wide open. From USB boot to SSD with spinning rust at various speeds in between, your wallet and ego can pick.

[TheDragon]

Quick question I've not seen asked elsewhere before - how are people with virtualised unRAID servers handling the potential of disks overheating? 

 

At the moment on my baremetal server I'm running Joe L's diskovertemp script, which shuts down the server in the event a specified temperature threshold being exceeded.  The problem I can see in my scenario is that if my virtualised unRAID server were to shutdown from the diskovertemp script, since all the disks spinup during a clean shutdown they would continue to spin even after the VM was shutdown.. potentially allowing them to continuing to cook!

 

Has anyone crossed this bridge already? Or does everyone just have ice cold air con for their servers? 

[graywolf]

I've never had to worry about it.

Max temp I've seen has been 37 and currently my highest is 31.

Most my drives are in the 25-29 range

[BobPhoenix]

I don't worry about it.  I just check to make sure my fans are working properly on a regular basis now.  I had a fan die that was cooling 12 drives in my Lian Li V2000 case and didn't notice it.  On a parity check those drives were ~59-61c at 97% complete.  I saw it at that point.  I let the parity check finish have no idea how long they were over-temp.  I replaced the fan then the drives over a period of a few months.  I now replace the fans every couple of years or less whether they have failed or not.  If the fans spin easily and aren't making noise I check them again in a few months.  If they are making noise or don't spin well I replace them.

[c3]

Quick question I've not seen asked elsewhere before - how are people with virtualised unRAID servers handling the potential of disks overheating? 

 

At the moment on my baremetal server I'm running Joe L's diskovertemp script, which shuts down the server in the event a specified temperature threshold being exceeded.  The problem I can see in my scenario is that if my virtualised unRAID server were to shutdown from the diskovertemp script, since all the disks spinup during a clean shutdown they would continue to spin even after the VM was shutdown.. potentially allowing them to continuing to cook!

 

Has anyone crossed this bridge already? Or does everyone just have ice cold air con for their servers? 

 

You are correct.

 

You have to decide your complete action plan. For example in many cases, the unRAID storage is also used as a datastore and other VMs run from unRAID. Are you doing similar? If so, those VMs need to shutdown before unRAID, and finally shutdown the host.

 

My solution is to have ESX control the fans, react to temperature, and perform shutdown. I include too much alerting as almost any situation is likely to involve the whole house.

[PsiCzar]

Hi, I'm trying to pass an 8GB USB 3 Corsair Flash Voyager stick which holds my Unraid install through to the Unraid VM i've setup but for some reason ESXi 5.1 won't detect that it has been plugged in.

 

I followed the steps I found on this website http://www.progob.nl/robmaaseu/index.php/vmware-esxi-determine-which-usb-bus-to-pass-through/ to identify the correct USB controller to passthrough. I ran this command to get a list of USB devices attached to the system lsusb -v | grep -e Bus -e iSerial but i'm not seeing it in the list. I tried the same command with it unplugged and the number of listed devices didnt change, I then tried a different USB stick (same brand but 16GB) and it appears in the list, so it must be something to do with this particular USB device. Unfortunately as my Unraid Pro licence is tied to this one I can't just swap it with the other.

 

I inserted it into my Windows 8 machine, did a chkdsk and it came back with no errors, I also tried copying the files off and formatting it again with the same file system (FAT32) but again it didnt make any difference.

 

Is there anything else I can do to get the host to see this device or should I try setting it up with the other USB stick and see if Tom will update my licence?

 

Thanks!

[generalz]

Hi, I'm trying to pass an 8GB USB 3 Corsair Flash Voyager stick which holds my Unraid install through to the Unraid VM i've setup but for some reason ESXi 5.1 won't detect that it has been plugged in.

 

I followed the steps I found on this website http://www.progob.nl/robmaaseu/index.php/vmware-esxi-determine-which-usb-bus-to-pass-through/ to identify the correct USB controller to passthrough. I ran this command to get a list of USB devices attached to the system lsusb -v | grep -e Bus -e iSerial but i'm not seeing it in the list. I tried the same command with it unplugged and the number of listed devices didnt change, I then tried a different USB stick (same brand but 16GB) and it appears in the list, so it must be something to do with this particular USB device. Unfortunately as my Unraid Pro licence is tied to this one I can't just swap it with the other.

 

I inserted it into my Windows 8 machine, did a chkdsk and it came back with no errors, I also tried copying the files off and formatting it again with the same file system (FAT32) but again it didnt make any difference.

 

Is there anything else I can do to get the host to see this device or should I try setting it up with the other USB stick and see if Tom will update my licence?

 

Thanks!

 

Some usb drives show up as an actual disk drive. and you can email tom and explain the issue and he will swap your license to the other drive

[TheDragon]

Thanks for the replies guys.  Has certainly given me some ideas! 

 

@BobPhoenix I'll definitely be adding regular replacement of fans to my maintenance schedule, as that seems like a very sensible precaution!

 

@c3 I presume you're referring to ESX controlling PWM case fans, how are you achieving that? Also how are you getting ESX to check disk temperatures?

 

I'm not hosting VMs on unRAID and don't plan to.  At the moment, my best idea has been to add a line to Joe L's script, so that when the specified temperature threshold has been exceeded, it will run the script I created to shutdown all VMs and the host  (originally I created this for UPS shutdown but can't see why it couldn't be used for this purpose too).

 

On another note, is anyone aware of any downsides to using RDM'd parity/data drives in unRAID? As my current hardware won't support passthrough of the controller, I was considering running with all the drives RDM'd until I get another CPU & motherboard.

 

I've not actually taken the leap and started running ESX full time, I'm just booting up with it every now and then to work on how best to set it up for my needs.  I have the UPS configuration sorted now, just have to tackle disk temperatures and datastore backups before I'll be ready to 'take the leap'!    Any constructive criticism is very welcome!